CommaFeed

Can customize look and feel with custom CSS. Option to import feeds manually or automatically. Sharing features. Looks just like Google Reader. Demo lets you try before signing up.

Cons
DIY instructions are a little rough. Team ironing out performance issues. No mobile support yet.

Bottom Line

CommaFeed is already one of the best alternatives to Google Reader out there, and it's getting better. Available as both a Web-based service and open source project you can build on your own, CommaFeed makes the transition to a new reader relatively easy and painless.

CommaFeed (free) straddles two worlds. It offers a Web-based RSS feed reader to be your Google Reader placement: import your feeds and you are good to go in an environment that looks almost like Google Reader. It also lets the intrepid DIY-er download the actual software from GitHub to build a personal RSS reader on RedHat's OpenShift platform. Build it, and you will never have to worry about losing your RSS reader ever again.

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If you don't want to deal with code, you just register for an account on CommaFeed.com. If you are looking for a Google Reader replacement, you check off the "Google Reader import" box to kick off the automatic import. To do so, you have to enter your Google credentials on the second screen of the registration process to let CommaFeed handle the import. If the idea of giving your login credentials to a random Website skeeves you out (as it does for me) you leave the box unchecked and just do the manual import later. Giving the user a choice wins CommaFeed good karma points.

Here is bonus karma: You can poke around the almost-full-featured demo to try it out before signing up. I am so tired of having to register an account just to try out a service.

CommaFeed's interface looks really similar to the classic Google Reader, and many of the keyboard shortcuts are the same. The team has promised to add the remaining shortcuts soon. You can also use the built-in sharing options to share posts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or Instapaper. Themes are coming, and if you know a little CSS or HTML, you can modify the look and feel anyway you like.

You can also filter the screen to view just the unread items, mark everything in a feed as read, or sort items by date. The search engine lets you find related posts. It was one of my favorite things about Google Reader and I am thrilled CommaFeed included it.

You can toggle between the option to see only headlines, or headline plus a summary underneath. Google Reader lets me see the first few words of the story in headline view; CommaFeed doesn't. Headline view really is just the headline. I kind of miss it, but it's a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.

Subscribing to a new feed is as simple as clicking the Subscribe button and pasting a feed URL. Removing it is just a matter of selecting the feed on the left sidebar and clicking on the wrench icon. This brings up the feed details page, and you just hit "Unsubscribe." You can change feed details, such as renaming it, changing the category, and changing the order it shows up in the list of feeds.

There isn't any mobile support, which is a bit of a disappointment. It's not a deal-breaker for me since I generally read via my Web browser, even on my mobile devices, but I know a lot of people prefer using native apps. If you are one of them, look at Feedly or check out the iOS app for Digg Reader.

The site's popularity has surged in the past few days, which has impacted performance. Even so, it hasn't felt particularly sluggish or difficult to use. In fact, I am feeling forgiving because it's clear the team is actually trying to address the performance issues and improve the service with the influx of new users.

I like CommaFeed, and it is almost as good as Editors' Choice G2Reader, but what really gets me excited is its build-your-own-reader capabilities. I originally tried Tiny Tiny RSS (a PHP application) and was frustrated at how sluggish the application was, so I was nervous about trying CommaFeed (a Java server application). I needn't have worried, because CommaFeed was quite easy to install and I had no performance issues.

CommaFeed is much more flexible, as it can be installed on either Windows or Linux (provided you install a Web server such as Tomcat). I also liked the fact that the GitHub repository had instructions on how to throw up CommaFeed onto RedHat's OpenShift cloud platform (which uses JBoss). I also liked the fact that CommaFeed can be installed on either Windows or Linux. The instructions are thorough for an open source project, but a little opaque to anyone new to server management or building code. Keep Google handy for assistance.

If you want to try OpenShift, the GitHub README file links to a detailed and well-done "alternate" instruction manual that really smoothes out all the bumps in the process.

Overall, CommaFeed is one of the best alternatives to Google Reader that I've ever used, and I am right now trying to decide if I am going to stick with the Web-based version, the version on my server, or OpenShift. It's a great dilemma to have, really. The interface and usability is on par with The Old Reader, but the platform has a little bit more growing up to do before it can completely take on our Editors' Choice G2Reader. But if you want to host your own RSS Reader, you can't go wrong with CommaFeed.

Fahmida Y. Rashid is a senior analyst for business at PCMag.com. She focuses on ways businesses can use technology to work efficiently and easily. She is paranoid about security and privacy, and considers security implications...

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